SALT LAKE CITY -- Many Utah kids don't have a place to call home so they showed up to the State Capitol hoping a family would want them. It's part of the ninth annual Heart Gallery.
While there's a lot of heartbreak there's also hope and Jordan Mart is proof of that. Last year his parents were the State of Utah but he's found a new family since then.
"I was in foster care and waiting to get adopted by someone," said Mart, who was featured at last year’s heart gallery.
He wasn't sure if he would ever be adopted.
"It was sad but maybe sometimes I accepted it," Mart said.
The 16-year-old who is in a wheelchair because of a birth defect, feels whole again.
"It feels really good, it really does," he said.
Mart met a kind man named Dennis who is now his dad. He even has a new Mom but not everyone is as fortunate.
"I have been without a family for three years, said 12-year-old John, who held his older brother’s hand tightly. Both are wishing to be adopted.
It's the same story for Mckayala Ferguson, who has been in foster care ever since she was little.
All she wants?
"A family that will love me," she said.
About 166 pairs of shoes sat on the steps inside the Capitol rotunda representing each Utah child who needs a family. Portraits showed smiling kids waiting to be loved.
"When you look into the faces of these children and you know that child is going to bed tonight not knowing where they will sleep tomorrow night possibly that really hits home," said Kathy Searle with the Adoption Agency.
Mart was a featured speaker Wednesday night. He said there's hope for foster kids.
"I would just say be positive there's someone out there for everyone it might not come now but it's bound to come sometime," he said.
Click here for more information on adoption.
"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."
